Ukraine introduces a ban on competition in competitions with Russians and Belarusians

Ukraine’s government released a ruling this Friday banning its national teams from competing in competitions that also include athletes from Russia or Belarus, its ally in the ongoing war.

The decree of the Ministry of Youth and Sports follows Ukraine’s opposition to the efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral and without any national symbols.

The initiative should put pressure on sports organizations to choose between admitting Russians and Belarusians or risking a Ukrainian boycott.

Following Ukraine’s announcement last week that it would not allow its athletes to compete against Russians and Belarusians, the IOC said such a move would “only hit the Ukrainian athlete community.” The IOC has not yet commented on Friday’s decree.

The decree directly applies to delegations and national teams, and it is not clear whether it affects individual players in men’s and women’s tennis, where the Russians and Belarusians remained neutral.

The qualification for the European Football Championship, in which Belarus participates, but Russia does not, is also unclear. Ukraine and Belarus are in different groups and cannot meet in the playoffs.

First, a year ago, the IOC recommended that the federations exclude Russians and Belarusians, but now defends their return as neutral athletes, saying that the removal is pure discrimination.

However, the IOC recommends that athletes associated with the armed forces be excluded from individual sports.

International sports federations are not obliged to follow the recommendation of the IOC, which, for its part, will still take a position on Paris 2024.

In 2022, Ukraine boycotted judo qualifiers after the international judo federation was attended by Russians and Belarusians, including several military personnel.